Speaking to the RTE Guide, the 43-year-old said: "People seem fascinated by anyone over 40 having a child," however she added that now is the, “right time,” for her and husband TD John Deasy and it, "feels perfectly normal".

Derrane also made the decision not to announce her news until she was five months pregnant: "I really wanted to leave it as long as possible to make sure that everything was okay, so I wanted to get past the three months and then even up to four months things can go wrong.

"Then to be honest, I wasn't showing very much, so I got to five months without having to say anything. I knew there would be a reaction so I felt I should leave it for a while."